Lydia Patterson Institute is a donor supported private high school in El Paso, TX, that gives Spanish-speaking students, primarily from Juarez, the opportunity to receive an education in the US and eventually attend a university. It has an intensive ESL program and all high school classes are taught in English.
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For almost 100 years, United Methodists have responded to the need for a qua
lity education for those Hispanic students that face tremendous challenges obtaining a quality education. Lydia Patterson, a Methodist laywoman acting through the Women's Missionary Society of her church, noticed that young Hispanic boys in El Barrio had no school to attend and began to set up schools in the homes of some Mexican Methodists. Her spirit and vision is still alive today at Lydia Patterson Institute where over 400 young men and women, a majority of whom are from Cuidad Juarez, continue to be educated in a challenging academic environment while being nurtured in Christian values. LPI was one of the first schools in the US to emphasize the teaching of English as a Second Language in 1921 and to then merge students into the appropriate grade level to put them on the path toward graduation from high school. Excellence and outstanding achievement have been the trademark of LPI students. Graduation rates of students exceed 95% of those entering as freshmen and over 90% of the graduates continue their education at colleges across the US. The graduation class of 2010, for example, earned 2.1 million dollars in competitive college scholarships. With the support of the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church, LPI is positioned to keep faith with its historic commitment to academic excellence and intentional spiritual nurturing. The staff and administration see themselves as strategically situated geographically, demographically and historically to serve as a bridge that will span the social, cultural and spiritual realities of a very diverse population. Today's conditions offer us an exciting and challenging moment in which to serve God as we serve mankind.
